JavaScript closest
When it comes to finding relationships between elements, we traditionally think of a top-down approach. We can thank CSS and querySelector/querySelectorAll for that relationship in selectors. What if we want to find an element's parent based on selector?
To look up the element tree and find a parent by selector, you can use HTMLElement's closest method:
// Our sample element is an "a" tag that matches ul > li > a
const link = document.querySelector('li a');
const list = a.closest('ul');
closest looks up the ancestor chain to find a matching parent element -- the opposite of traditional CSS selectors. You can provide closest a simple or complex selector to look upward for!
![CSS @supports]()
Feature detection via JavaScript is a client side best practice and for all the right reasons, but unfortunately that same functionality hasn't been available within CSS. What we end up doing is repeating the same properties multiple times with each browser prefix. Yuck. Another thing we...
![Conquering Impostor Syndrome]()
Two years ago I documented my struggles with Imposter Syndrome and the response was immense. I received messages of support and commiseration from new web developers, veteran engineers, and even persons of all experience levels in other professions. I've even caught myself reading the post...
![MooTools Equal Heights Plugin: Equalizer]()
Keeping equal heights between elements within the same container can be hugely important for the sake of a pretty page. Unfortunately sometimes keeping columns the same height can't be done with CSS -- you need a little help from your JavaScript friends. Well...now you're...
![Fading Links Using jQuery: dwFadingLinks]()
UPDATE: The jQuery website was down today which caused some issues with my example. I've made everything local and now the example works.
Earlier this week, I posted a MooTools script that faded links to and from a color during the mouseover and mouseout events.
